Darlington Covered Bridge · Photo: Al Hart · Public domainFranklin Township’s library logs 6.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Darlington Public Library serves 2,141 people in and around Franklin Township. Last year it lent 14K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
The short version on Franklin Township’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Darlington Public Library spends $38 per resident, less than 71% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). It’s still busier than 74% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 0% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Darlington Public Library serves 2,141 people in and around Franklin Township, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Franklin Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Franklin Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Franklin Township
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Franklin Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Franklin Township’s residents live; 2022.
31 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Darlington Public Library serves 2,141 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Darlington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
14K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Darlington Public Library, 203 West Main Street, Darlington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Darlington Public Library branch.
New in Franklin Township? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Franklin Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $81K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $245K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $81K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 1,166 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | Darlington Public Library fine-free | — | 31 | B− |
| Union Township | Crawfordsville District Public Library fine-free | — | 68 | B |
| Sugar Creek Township | Thorntown Public Library fine-free | — | 57 | B+ |
| Sugar Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Walnut Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Darlington Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Darlington Public Library serves 2,141 people in and around Franklin Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Franklin Township.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Franklin Township
Does Franklin Township have a public library?
Yes. Darlington Public Library, 203 West Main Street, serves 2,141 people in and around Franklin Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 31 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Darlington Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Franklin Township’s library?
It logged 6.1 visits and lent 6.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Franklin Township’s civic life grade?
B− Franklin Township is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Franklin Township.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.